1. Setup

The lab exercises require the installation and configuration of a few tools. This page will help you get started.

Local Installation

The exercises assume a UNIX environment. If you are working on Windows, install the Windows Subsystem for Linux as documented at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10

CLI Tools

Python

Pulumi requires Python 3.8 or later.

• macOS: brew install python
• Linux: sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip
• Windows (WSL): same as Linux above
• All platforms: https://www.python.org/downloads/

Verify the installation:

python3 --version

Pulumi

• macOS: brew install pulumi/tap/pulumi
• Linux / WSL:

  curl -fsSL https://get.pulumi.com | sh

• All platforms: https://www.pulumi.com/docs/install/

Verify the installation:

pulumi version

kubectl

• macOS: brew install kubectl
• Linux / WSL:

  curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -Ls https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
  chmod +x kubectl && sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

• All platforms: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/

Verify the installation:

kubectl version --client

Helm

• macOS: brew install helm
• Linux / WSL:

  curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

• All platforms: https://helm.sh/docs/intro/install/

Verify the installation:

helm version

jq

jq is a lightweight command-line JSON processor used to inspect Pulumi state files.

• macOS: brew install jq
• Linux / WSL: sudo apt install jq
• All platforms: https://jqlang.org/download/

Verify the installation:

jq --version

Docker

Docker is required for the Pulumi basics lab, which runs a local nginx container using the Docker provider.

• macOS / Windows: Install Docker Desktop — this includes the Docker daemon, CLI, and Compose.
• Linux:

  curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
  sudo usermod -aG docker $USER   # allows running docker without sudo (re-login required)

• All platforms: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/

After installation, start Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows) or the Docker service (Linux):

sudo systemctl enable --now docker   # Linux only

Verify the daemon is running:

docker info

You should see system-wide information about the Docker installation with no errors.

IDE

Install an editor of your choice. PyCharm Community Edition or Visual Studio Code are recommended — both have strong Python and Kubernetes support.

PyCharm

1. Download from https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download (Community Edition is free)
2. Install the Kubernetes plugin via Settings → Plugins

Note: any other JetBrains IDE (IntelliJ, Rider, etc.) works equally well. PyCharm has a lower memory footprint.

Visual Studio Code

1. Download from https://code.visualstudio.com/download
2. Install the Python extension (ms-python.python)
3. Install the Kubernetes extension (ms-kubernetes-tools.vscode-kubernetes-tools)

Useful Links

• Pulumi Docs
• Pulumi Azure Native Provider
• Kubernetes Docs
• Helm Docs